Nursing Publications
Developing and Testing a New Measure of Staff Nurse Clinical Leadership: The Clinical Leadership Survey
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2011
Journal
Journal of Nursing Management
Volume
19
Issue
4
First Page
449
Last Page
460
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01238.x
Abstract
AIM: To test the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure of staff nurse clinical leadership derived from Kouzes and Posner's model of transformational leadership.
BACKGROUND: While nurses have been recognized for their essential role in keeping patients safe, there has been little empirical research that has examined clinical leadership at the staff nurse level.
METHODS: A non-experimental survey design was used to test the psychometric properties of the clinical leadership survey (CLS). Four hundred and eighty registered nurses (RNs) providing direct patient care in Ontario acute care hospitals returned useable questionnaires.
RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis provided preliminary evidence for the construct validity for the new measure of staff nurse clinical leadership. Structural empowerment fully mediated the relationship between nursing leadership and staff nurse clinical leadership.
CONCLUSION: The results provide encouraging evidence for the construct validity of the CLS.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing administrators must create empowering work environments to ensure staff nurses have access to work structures which enable them to enact clinical leadership behaviours while providing direct patient care.
